For the first time ever, all three of Austin’s NCAA soccer programs have made it to their national tournaments.
The Texas Longhorns finished out strong at the Big 12 tournament, with draws against nationally-ranked Texas Tech and West Virginia (beating Tech in a PK shootout, then losing the same way to eventual champion West Virginia). That was enough to earn the Horns one of six Big 12 bids; they host Rice at Myers Stadium on Friday, Nov. 14, at 5pm. It’s the Horns’ first time back in the tournament since 2011, which makes the home game especially cool for the seniors. Tickets are $9; $7 youth/senior, or $13/$11 for field level. Parking will be an issue: reserve in advance by 10pm Thursday at utparking.clickandpark.com for $3, or match-day parking is $12.
The St. Edward’s women earned their sixth straight bid in NCAA DII, riding a 10-game winning streak through Heartland Conference play and last weekend’s conference tournament; they’re off to Golden, Colorado, to face Dallas Baptist for the fourth time this season (all 1-0 decisions; the Hilltoppers have won two of three). The winner faces the top-seeded hosts, the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers, on Sunday.
The St. Edward’s men probably deserved a bid each of the last two years; this year, with a 16-2-1 record and a No. 8 national ranking, they’re the top seed in the South Central region, which gets them a bye this weekend into next weekend’s Sweet 16®. It’s only their second appearance ever; the first was in 1999.
Landon Donovan‘s hat trick highlighted the first round of MLS playoffs; and there’ll be two good rivalries in the conference finals: Seattle vs. LA Galaxy in the West, and New York vs. New England in the East. … They get a week to prepare, as MLS takes a break for this week’s international schedule. There are some Euro 2016 qualifiers on Fox Sports, Friday through Wednesday, plus USA vs. Colombia at 1pm Friday from London, and USA vs. Ireland at 1:30pm Tuesday, on ESPN/ESPN2.
This article appears in November 14 • 2014.